New workshop dates posted

Eight workshops added to STEC's training and events calendar:

• January 3 to 5, Saskatoon: Facilitator Skills Development (open to the public).
• January 7 – 10, Saskatoon: Service Best (closed workshop for school).
• January 9 to 11, Saskatoon: Facilitators Skills Development (open to the public).
• January 14 – 15, Saskatoon: Marketing 101 (closed workshop for school).
• January 23, Southeast Regional College (Carry The Kettle First Nation): Service Best (closed workshop for employer).
• January 23, La Ronge: Showing We Care, Mamawetin Churchill River HR (closed workshop for employer).
• January 24, Meadow Lake: Service Best, North West Regional College (closed workshop for employer).
• March 13, La Ronge: Showing We Care, Mamawetin Churchill River HR (closed workshop for employer).

A little sunshine on an April morning

Following up on a February Service Best workshop at South East Regional College, facilitated by Tony Kayter, I noticed this comment from participant Gayleen Gurr, of Langbank, Saskatchewan: "...very worthwhile - should be mandatory in schools."

Thanks, Gayleen, for taking the time at the end of the workshop to provide some wonderful feedback and comments (and for providing permission to share them with our readers).

Several schools in Saskatchewan offer our Service Best in High Schools workshop. When you consider that most young people get their first jobs in tourism or hospitality businesses, the training effectively prepares them for summer employment, part-time work as students, and ongoing work in jobs where good customer service counts, including retail. (So, tell me of any job that doesn't require some kind of customer service, whether that's in a retail or "selling" business or in an office that requires you to interact effectively with colleagues!) Diefenbaker Destination Developments recently organized our Service Best Teacher In-Service workshop to certify high school teachers to provide Service Best in schools throughout the Lake Diefenbaker Tourism Destination Area. We even had one teacher travel down from Blaine Lake to take the training so that she could deliver Service Best in her high school.

Would we like to see more schools deliver Service Best? You bet! Consider how most of us learn about how to behave on the job. We learn mainly from experience, by watching how others are treated. If you can remember how you were treated as a high school (or younger) student when you went into local businesses, then you know that our youth don't often experience exemplary customer service. So, how do you learn to provide good customer service if you never experience it? That's why we've got Service Best in High Schools.

SHSA completes STEC facilitator's workshop for staff

The Service and Hospitality Safety Association of Saskatchewan (SHSA) arranged STEC’s Facilitator Skills Development Workshop for nine staff in November.

The 3½-day “train the trainer” workshop builds a solid foundation of knowledge and skills for anyone who delivers training or presentations to adults. The workshop is required for all contract facilitators of STEC training programs, but in this instance the SHSA was looking for a program that would help its staff deliver its own training and services more effectively. The STEC program was a perfect match because it’s tailored to industries in the tourism sector, providing participants with skills and practice that make them better communicators and trainers.

Any organization can use the facilitators’ workshop to help staff create more productive working relationships, and to engage and motivate their clients. The SHSA participants said that in addition to discovering those benefits, they valued the way the workshop approaches planning and facilitating.

Service Best workshops around the province

The Saskatchewan Tourism Education Council has organized province-wide Service Best workshops for this fall and winter, making right now the perfect time to register your front-line employees for training in the delivery of superior customer service. This entertaining and interactive workshop provides useful tools for creating memorable customer experiences, responding to customer needs, and turning dissatisfied customers into loyal allies.

Workshops are scheduled throughout the province: Estevan/Weyburn, Humboldt, Meadow Lake, Moose Jaw, North Battleford, Regina, Saskatoon, Swift Current and Yorkton.

If you do business in Prince Albert or the Lake Diefenbaker Tourism Destination Area, you can register for one of four special Service Best workshops, Service Best Management, or Service Best Teacher In-Service. Prince Albert aims to be Canada's first "Service Best City", with at least 60% of the city's businesses achieving the designation. Lake Diefenbaker Tourism Destination Area also plans to have 60% of businesses designated, creating a culture of service excellence and drawing more visitors to the area.

For more information, visit www.stec.com or www.steconlinelearning.com.